There are still 45 days until Opening Day, which bears a lot of similarity to a short stint in the county jail if this 2018 White Sox season can't be looked at as anything besides another year of waiting for their time to come. Potential over-performing, surprise playoff teams are usually a bit closer to the pack of competitors than PECOTA-projected 73-win Sox, which is among the friendlier assessments they have received in this dystopian, digital age.

PECOTA thinks the Sox lineup only has two above-average hitters (Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia), one above-average starter (Carlos Rodon, which is troubling on its own), but otherwise a lot of struggle sessions on their way. There are a lot of bones to be picked with that (Lucas Giolito is projected to have an ERA around two runs worse than he had last year, Yoan Moncada's projection is essentially a hedge between his rocky debut and furious finish) and there will be plenty of instances where the computer misses a...

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